Following a bench trial, the Superior Court of Fayette County found Lee Jacobs guilty of driving while having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams or more DUI per se, OCGA § 40-6-391 a 5. Jacobs appeals, contending that the undisputed facts established that he was stopped at a highway roadblock that was implemented by a field officer, rather than by a supervisor at the programmatic level, and, therefore, that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of that roadblock.1 Finding no error, we affirm. It is axiomatic that stopping a vehicle is a seizure that violates the Fourth Amendment unless it is reasonable. City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U. S. 32, 37 II, 40 III 121 SC 447 2000; Thomas v. State , 277 Ga. App. 88, 89-90 625 SE2d 455 2005. In general, a seizure is unreasonable absent some individualized suspicion of a crime. City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U. S. at 37 II; Thomas v. State , 277 Ga. App. at 89-90. As a result, “roving patrols in which officers exercise unfettered discretion to stop drivers in the absence of some articulable suspicion” are unconstitutional. Citation omitted. Thomas v. State , 277 Ga. App. at 90. A limited exception to the rule requiring individualized suspicion, however, allows standardized highway checkpoints or roadblocks that serve legitimate law enforcement objectives and that impose minimal intrusions on the motoring public. City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U. S. at 41-42 III; LaFontaine v. State , 269 Ga. 251, 253 3 497 SE2d 367 1998.2
To justify a stop under this exception, the State must prove that a highway roadblock program “was implemented at the programmatic level for a legitimate primary purpose,”3 that is, that the roadblock was ordered by a supervisor rather than by officers in the field and was “implemented to ensure roadway safety rather than as a constitutionally impermissible pretext aimed at discovering general evidence of ordinary crime.” Citations omitted. Hobbs v. State , 260 Ga. App. 115, 116 1 579 SE2d 50 2003.4 “Elevating the roadblock decision from the officers in the field to the supervisory level limits the exercise of discretion by the officers in the field.” Thomas v. State , 277 Ga. App. at 90.
